A telecommunications networks become more capable, merging traditional public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) with packet networks, such as the Internet, the distinction between a “local” call and a “long-distance” call has blurred. Even before the rise in availability of access to the Internet, telephone service providers offered nation-wide numbers, such as toll-free 1-800 numbers (and not toll-free 1-900 numbers.) A nation-wide number may be dialed from anywhere in the country—the caller does not know and may not care about where the call is actually being routed. Subscribers to advanced telecommunications networks have access to an ever wider variety of services, including services that are possibly located literally on the other side of the planet from the subscriber. Having nearly instantaneous access to services via computer networks allowed businesses to locate the physical resources that provide these services, e.g., computers, servers, web servers, etc., literally anywhere in the world. This further obliterates the distinction between what is local to a subscriber and what is not. A computer user visiting a website may have no clue whether the web server is located next door or on another continent, for example, and it may not make any difference at all to the user.
There are, however, some circumstances when it is important for a subscriber to know whether the person he or she is contacting over the telecommunications network is geographically close by or far away. For example, when a subscriber needs to contact the police or an ambulance by dialing an emergency contact number, such as 911 in the United States, it is important that the caller is connected to a local entity. Likewise, when a subscriber dials a 1-800 number, to order an item from a catalog, for example, the user may not care to which geographic location the call is routed. On the other hand, however, when the user is trying to call a local pizza delivery restaurant which offers a 1-800 number, a user in one state does not want to be connected to a delivery restaurant in another state, or even in another county, but wants to be connected to restaurant that will deliver to his or her location.
This gave rise to the need for location-based routing, i.e., routing a call based on the geographic location of the calling or called party. While it is relatively easy to determine the geographic location of a calling party, for example, if the calling party is using a wireline or land-line, it is more difficult to determine the location of a party who is calling from a mobile phone, which, by definition, is not tied to any particular geographic location.
Furthermore, conventional approaches to providing location-based routing for wireline telephones involves provisioning the end offices or service switching points to generate a trigger that initiates the location-based routing function. This is referred to as a “triggered” implementation of location-based routing. Provisioning all of the end offices with triggers is potentially very expensive, and may not be supported by some older equipment. In addition, conventional location-based routing uses the directory number of the subscriber to indicate the geographic location of the subscriber. Although this is satisfactory for wireline subscribers, this method fails to provide useful location information for mobile subscribers, whose directory number stays the same but whose geographic location may be anywhere within the region, country, continent, or even world.
Accordingly, in light of these disadvantages associated with conventional triggered location-based screening, there exists a need for triggerless mobile location-based routing and screening.